WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. April 17, 2008 UPDATED April 19, 2008 5 PM EDT: As first reported Friday by WPCNR, the New York State Office of Real Property Services has recalculated the residential Basic STAR Tax Exemption for towns and municipalities and counties across New York State, and in the process has reduced the White Plains homeowners Basic STAR exemption, automatically raising Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains school tax automatically by 2% .
State Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley, speaking with WPCNR today said he had no idea the new ORPS Basis STAR amount for White Plains until it was enacted last Monday, April 14. (See story above.) Bradley said the ORPS action was independent of the legislature which had nothing to do with the resulting 2% (approximate raise in the White Plains School Tax.
If the White Plains City School District is not already aware of this STAR cut, they will be pleased to know they will receive an additional $3.2 Million in school property taxes In White Plains, courtesy of the unknowing taxpayer. Pictured is the Albany Assembly which last week with Senate approval agave $1.4 Million in additional state aid to the district to “cut” taxes to 6%. Then on Monday, April 14, the Office of Real Property Services cut the Basic STAR Exemption $370 costing the typical White Plains taxpayer an additional 2%.
The state STAR “cut” it has reduced the BASIC STAR Deduction of the White Plains homeowner and thousands of others across Westchester County by similar amounts. The White Plains homeowner finds their BASIC STAR cut to $3,330, according to the NYSORPS website. The $3.2 Million this cut will bring the school district is in addition to the $1.4 Million in additional state aid the school district complimented legislators Adam Bradley, Suzi Oppenheimer and Amy Paulin for advocating for the district Monday evening.
Now Possibly the SchoolTax Increase is 8% — Not 6%
That $1.4 Million was credited with reducing the tax rate so that White Plains taxpayers would only have to pay an additional 6% in property taxes, which with the new “cut” in the BASIC STAR now computes to an 8% tax increase.
The effect increases the White Plains residential homeowner’s accessible market value $370 (1.8%) cutting the deduction off your accessible value to $3,350 in the coming tax year of 2008-2009 from the higher deduction White Plains taxpayers enjoyed in 2007-2008 when the Basic STAR exemption was $3,700. You will not know this if you check the Office of Real Property Services website because the NYSORPS does not indicate the amount of change in the exemption. The homeowner pays about 2% more — but it means $3.2 Million more to the school district.
Mr. and Mrs. Median WP Home Bottom Line Goes Down
If you own a $700,000 home, accessed at $18,475 in 2007-2008, when your STAR exemption reduced your taxable value to $14,775, your taxable value goes up to $15,125. At the new School Tax Rate of $503.01 per $1,000, your School Tax in 2008-2009 will go up to $7,608 – an additional $167 over the tax increase in the proposed school budget.
The $167 represents an additional 2.2% increase in your school tax for this median home – unless of course, the school district knew about the increase in advance and figured the increase into the budget. WPCNR is attempting to find this out. The school district made references to possible changes in the STAR, but passed the budget anyway Monday evening.
8% PLUS Tax Increase in Reality?
If the STAR Exemption cut was not figured into the present White Plains School budget of $184.4 Million budget, then the publicized 5.98% (6%) tax increase is incorrect. With the state quietly cutting the STAR Exemption, the actual tax increase is 8.18% more than double the rate of inflation recognized by the state (3.35%)
If this STAR Exemption was not known to the Board of Education before Monday evening, it means that, in addition to the White Plains School Tax increase of 6% adopted Monday by the Board of Education, the typical White Plains homeowner will pay an additional 2%. WPCNR News is attempting to ascertain if the School District was informed of this by the state. Our information is that they were not.
The statewide action was taken by the Office of Real Property Services on Monday, one day before the tax deadline, and depending on the locale in which you live, you may be receiving more exemption or less.
White Plains is getting less.
The action is now forcing the City of White Plains and all municipalities across the state to refigure the School Property Tax STAR Exemption. The new STAR rates were made public April 14 (Monday), and not reported in the media April 14 was also the day the White Plains City School District adopted their proposed budget of $184.4 Million which calls for a 5.98% tax increase and a 5.95% increase in the budget.
The effect escalates as the value of your home goes up.
Here is the WPCNR Tax Ladder, we demonstrated two days ago adjusted for the new Basic STAR Cut.
STAR
VALUE OF HOME Average Assessment School Tax W/City Cty Tax CUT
TAX INCREASE
$2 Million 42.2 Gs $21,651 $33,424 +$424
$1.5 Million 31.6Gs $16,352 $25,352 +$352
$1 Million 21.1Gs $10,833 $16,733 +$233
700G 15Gs $7,608 $12,767 +$178
400G 8.5Gs $4,372 $6,655 +$94
· These figures are estimates only, and relate only to White Plains. All homes are assessed differently. To figure out your tax bill subtract $3,370 from your 2007-2008 Tax Assessment and multiple the result by $503.01.
The Westchester STAR Exemptions, 2008-2009, provided on the New York State Office of Real Property Services website http://www.orps.state.ny.us/star/ex/index.htm , do not indicate the amount of difference (plus or minus) in 2008-2009, from 2007-2008 STAR Exemption.
To determine how your Westchester County community is affected, examine your own tax bill, subtract the amount under Basic STAR from last year’s (2007-2008) assessed value. The Enhanced STAR is for families who make less than $60,000 a year, while most homeowners only qualify for the Basic STAR exemption
